Returning
by javamoose
Summary: After the ordeal between the feuding camps has been settled, Nico seeks to return to Greece to help the Seven. Reyna tries to convince him to stay to recuperate. It's then that Nico has a revelation.


**Heyo! Long time no write. **

**I wrote this fic right after I finished House of Hades and I dunno, I figured I should upload it because why not? **

**Background: This is set after the Camp Jupiter vs. Camp Half Blood battle, the Seven are in Greece ready for the final showdown.**

**Ok.**

**Thanks for reading as always!**

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"You should rest, you just pulled off quite a feat and need-"

I shake my head, "I need to go help, they need every soldier they can get."

Reyna sighs, "Yes, every able bodied soldier they can get. I'm sorry Nico, but if you go back there in this shape, well, I don't even think you'd be able to get through the Atlantic Ocean. You're strong, stronger than most demigods I've met, but even the strongest need to sit back sometimes."

I try to fight back a yawn, but it's impossible. I don't let it keep me from my goal however, "My sister is back there, Reyna."

A regretful sort of understanding befalls her. She knows very well how all the other factors won't matter so long as this one remained. On our way here from Greece we'd had plenty of time to talk about our lives during our "rest" stops. She talked about Hylla and I talked about Bianca and Hazel.

She pinches the bridge of her nose, "Please, please just stay. Eat some ambrosia and drink some nectar, rest for a day. That's all I'm asking of you. If you go back in this condition you'll only die."

"You know you would do the same in my position."

"Yes, and you would be doing the same as I in my position," she retorts, sounding kinder than I've ever heard her speak.

My mouth becomes a tight line.

Reyna reaches out to my shoulder and gives me a reassuring squeeze, "These are the seven most powerful demigods out there, they have been handpicked by Juno herself. They know what they are doing, they're going to be okay. Hazel is going to be okay."

I stagger away from her and almost land face first into the grass below me, but she catches me before I can. I push her away.

"Get me some of that ambrosia and nectar, please." I say, flinching at a new pang vibrating throughout my skull. The migraine is so bad the colors around me are all distorted. The grass is pink and the sky orange.

She has a point, I know I need to rest. But there's no way in hell that I'm not going back to help Hazel. I know she can stand her own ground, I really do. But what if something happens? What if she dies? I already lost Bianca, I can't lose her too.

"Walk with me to the infirmary, I'll help-"

"I'll wait out here." I say coldly.

"Nico-"

"You can lock me up in the basement if you want, but I'm leaving here. Either you...either you go get me the ambrosia and nectar or I head out of there like this."

She shakes her head at me, "You're so stubbornly stupid, but very well. I'll be right back."

With that, she turns on her heels and walks idly down the hill.

I groan and collapse to the ground.

Every inch of me hurts. It's almost as if someone is freezing every bit of me, one organ at a time. The summer sun that beats down on me offers no aid, if anything it worsens the condition. The bright light makes me feel delirious and even more disconnected with reality than I usually am.

I worry about Hazel. I worry about what she's doing right this moment and where she is. Is she fighting some beast or is she handling an obnoxious god? Is she manipulating the mist or is she giggling at some joke from Frank?

Another pang booms in my head and changes my train of thought.

What about Percy Jackson?

A guttural response escapes my mouth from the thought.

What about Percy Jackson?

I flashback to last year, when I was down in the Underworld and he was up in Manhattan battling against the Titan legions. I remember how scared I was for him, how I thought up millions of scenarios in where Kronos found Percy's Achilles's spot. I imagined him being granted immortality by the Titan lord, only to be cast into Tartarus to endure the curse. I saw so vividly in my mind's eye Kronos tearing Percy to shreds like he had been eons ago. I felt the agony he would feel.

No, but he won.

He has to win again.

He will win again.

But this doesn't guarantee my sister's safety. He couldn't save Bianca, he probably won't be able to save Hazel either.

I claw at my face and shake my head.

None of that is going to happen, no way is history going to repeat itself again.

Hazel is going to be okay.

"Oh my gods!"

My eyes snap open and Reyna's face is a neon orange and her usually purple garments a bright green.

"Where...where are the-"

"You can't leave like this, you're obviously ill! This isn't just a case of fatigue, you're legitimately ill. Please, I'm supplicating to you, you need to stay and get-"

I grab the bag with the cubes from her hand and take one out. A taste of chicken broth spreads throughout my body and a warmth envelops me. The urge to grab another one is great but I restrain myself.

I sit up slowly and lean against my elbows, "Can I take this with me?"

Her face is back to her normal olive color now.

Reyna's eyes are pained, "I will go with you, alright?"

My eyebrows knit together, "You're praetor and your priority is to stay here with your legion."

"Wartime is over between the camps, they don't need me right now as much as you do. I know I can't stop you from shadow-traveling out of here, but please give me an ease of mind by allowing me to accompany you. When Hedge and I were with you we barely stood a chance, you know you need someone to help you."

She brings a teaspoon full of the godly liquid up to my lips and I feel warm chocolate coat the interiors of my esophagus.

"It's harder when two travel, it drains me all the more. I appreciate your offer however, thank you."

She frowns and stands up from her crouching position and offers me a hand that I take. She lifts me up and holds her chin up high, "Are you sure about this?"

I stick the ambrosia in my Aviator jacket's pocket.

"Yes."

She leans over and kisses my forehead to my astonishment.

I look up at her in confusion.

Reyna smiles kindly down at me and ruffles my hair, "Take care of yourself, Nico. Don't be as reckless as you're being right now out there, I can't afford to lose another companion because of this goddamn war."

In that moment I feel Bianca's presence.

My eyes widen and my heart beats quicker than that of a frightened rabbit.

It can't...It can't be…

When I look at Reyna's eyes I see Bianca's.

I stagger back and gawk at her, could it be?

"Nico...are you alright?" Reyna grabs my arms, "See, you have to stay, you-"

Her skin pressing against mine sends an electric shock throughout my entire body and my knees forget to function.

Does rebirth respect chronological time?

I shake it off, no way, no way she can be my sister's reincarnation.

No way.

But when I glance back up at her that presence is still there.

This is her, I know it.

I blink up at her and grin, much to her surprise.

"I'll be okay, Reyna."

She knits her eyebrows together and narrows her eyes, "Uh-"

"I'll be back, you take care."

"Nico-!"

I let the darkness envelop me and smile to myself.

I found her.


End file.
